It has been three weeks since the American trucker convoy, variously called the “People’s Convoy,” and the “Freedom Convoy” and “a public nuisance,” has been hanging out in Maryland and driving around making Americans annoyed at them as they waste money and gas and wake up small children with their big boy truck horns. On Sunday night, convoy organizer Mike Landis announced that the truckers will be leaving … for now.
This isn’t a shock, as these (mostly) guys haven’t really had much cohesion in their general message, other than something-something-COVID-19 mandates are making us sad faced emoji. With the lack of actual federal obstacles to rail against and with other scam artists lying in wait, the ability of the convoy’s organizational “leadership” to keep things together seemed likely to fail.
Earlier in the weekend it was announced that co-organizer Brian Brase was once again leaving the trucker rally for an indeterminate amount of time. His statement that the convoy wasn’t a “waste” didn’t fire up participants enough, I guess. This, along with general internal strife among those gathered at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland, was compounded by the fact that the race season is starting and the truckers, unable to get a permit to camp in the middle of Washington, D.C., no longer had a place to bivouac.
With Brase gone, co-organizer Mike Landis reportedly told the crowd that it was time to pack up. But it seems that at least some of the convoy is headed to California by way of the South. According to The Daily Beast, Landis promised that the convoy would “come back to finish this job” in D.C. Whether that is a threat, a wish, or an actual promise remains to be seen.
Related: ‘Freedom Convoy’ update: Infighting! Possible COVID outbreak! And … arresting cops?
Related: Infighting erupts at trucker convoy rally, police arrest armed man
Related: The trucker convoy crew is having a tough day in Washington, D.C.
The “People’s Convoy” has been mostly a hodgepodge of confusing racism, strange rumors about “citizen’s arrests” of public officials, and demands! Demands for what? Stuff. Not a handout, mind you. They just want things! Things like freedom. Things like they want their right to be freedomy. The right to freely be freedomy without the government being against their freedoming.
The convoy’s biggest success seems to have been letting Sen. Ted Cruz play pretend working-class hero and ride around in a truck for a few minutes. This is the same guy that just weeks before voted against saving truckers and other working folks’ pensions. Luckily for these predominantly conservative long-haulers, the Democratic Party has been willing to pass laws that help all Americans, not simply the richest ones.
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Conversely, the low points have been many. There were claims that truck drivers were going to the bathroom in their pants. There were days and days of traffic, bad weather, and delays, further frustrating the truckers that were making bathroom in their pants. Another group came in and made promises they could run the rally better (see: ‘less going to bathroom in one’s pants’). This all came to a crescendo with Maryland police being called to arrest a man for possessing a loaded firearm during a confrontation at the rally point in Hagerstown, Maryland, on Thursday night.
Let us all say goodbye, for now, to these freedom lovers as they head south and then toward California, I guess? It’s time for me to burn some sage and boil my computer in turpentine.
This isn’t a shock, as these (mostly) guys haven’t really had much cohesion in their general message, other than something-something-COVID-19 mandates are making us sad faced emoji. With the lack of actual federal obstacles to rail against and with other scam artists lying in wait, the ability of the convoy’s organizational “leadership” to keep things together seemed likely to fail.
Earlier in the weekend it was announced that co-organizer Brian Brase was once again leaving the trucker rally for an indeterminate amount of time. His statement that the convoy wasn’t a “waste” didn’t fire up participants enough, I guess. This, along with general internal strife among those gathered at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland, was compounded by the fact that the race season is starting and the truckers, unable to get a permit to camp in the middle of Washington, D.C., no longer had a place to bivouac.
With Brase gone, co-organizer Mike Landis reportedly told the crowd that it was time to pack up. But it seems that at least some of the convoy is headed to California by way of the South. According to The Daily Beast, Landis promised that the convoy would “come back to finish this job” in D.C. Whether that is a threat, a wish, or an actual promise remains to be seen.
Related: ‘Freedom Convoy’ update: Infighting! Possible COVID outbreak! And … arresting cops?
Related: Infighting erupts at trucker convoy rally, police arrest armed man
Related: The trucker convoy crew is having a tough day in Washington, D.C.
The “People’s Convoy” has been mostly a hodgepodge of confusing racism, strange rumors about “citizen’s arrests” of public officials, and demands! Demands for what? Stuff. Not a handout, mind you. They just want things! Things like freedom. Things like they want their right to be freedomy. The right to freely be freedomy without the government being against their freedoming.
The convoy’s biggest success seems to have been letting Sen. Ted Cruz play pretend working-class hero and ride around in a truck for a few minutes. This is the same guy that just weeks before voted against saving truckers and other working folks’ pensions. Luckily for these predominantly conservative long-haulers, the Democratic Party has been willing to pass laws that help all Americans, not simply the richest ones.
Embedded Content
Conversely, the low points have been many. There were claims that truck drivers were going to the bathroom in their pants. There were days and days of traffic, bad weather, and delays, further frustrating the truckers that were making bathroom in their pants. Another group came in and made promises they could run the rally better (see: ‘less going to bathroom in one’s pants’). This all came to a crescendo with Maryland police being called to arrest a man for possessing a loaded firearm during a confrontation at the rally point in Hagerstown, Maryland, on Thursday night.
Let us all say goodbye, for now, to these freedom lovers as they head south and then toward California, I guess? It’s time for me to burn some sage and boil my computer in turpentine.